Like Diocletian, Maximian rose through the ranks of the Roman Army during the war-torn later third century. Once Diocletian was installed as emperor, he soon offered to share power with his old friend, whom he trusted implicitly. Though less of a thinker than Diocletian, Maximian was a better soldier, a fact Diocletian understood and even appreciated. Maximian thus became Hercules to Diocletian’s Jupiter, the man of action following the lead of a great planner and organizer. The partnership worked remarkably well, and in AD 293 the diarchy was expanded to a Tetrarchy with the addition of two subordinate rulers. Imperial portraiture during the early years of the joint reign, particularly at western mints, could achieve a semblance of the realism and individuality seen in previous generations, as exemplified by this handsome aureus portrait of Maximian. Within a few years, such representations were replaced by a hard “generic” look that stressed the uniformity of the four rulers making up the unique regime.